November 30 2007

How Pond Scum Could Lead to Eco-Friendly Fabric and Paint

Going green is fashionable, but dyeing our clothes has remained a decidedly eco-unfriendly practice. Now, British scientists have developed a way to grow harmless algae to add color to fabric and paint.The algae, called diatoms, are single-celled organisms that are unique because they pack iridescent shells. The hard silica shells act like crystals -- depending on the configuration of the holes in the shell, the color changes. The perception of color is maintained without altering the chemical composition of fabric, which is a fundamentally different way of producing color.The new process is one of several advances that could provide safer and less expensive alternatives for a dye industry that has suffered rising costs recently due to environmental problems in China.